Captain Mason, in another letter, says, "I regret that that once interesting and exemplary colony should be under the influence of such a man.'

Happily, this reign of terror on Pitcairn Island was drawing to a close, and in a manner calculated to undeceive the credulous islanders as to the unfounded pretensions of Joshua Hill. He had asserted, in addition to other absurd declarations, that he was a near relative of the Duke of Bedford; and it was a remarkable circumstance that the next ship of war which touched at Pitcairn after the visit of Captain Seymour in the Challenger' was the Actæon,' commanded by Lord Edward Russell, in 1837. No one was more astonished than Hill himself at this unexpected arrival of a member of the Bedford family; and had Lord Edward's orders authorised such a proceeding, he would have removed Hill from the island, feeling justly indignant at his tyrannical conduct and his falsehoods.

In the following year, 1838, this measure was carried out by the Hon. Captain H. W. Bruce, commanding H.M.S. Imogene,' who was ordered to proceed to Pitcairn to remove Joshua Hill, and land him at Valparaiso.

From this period no further account has been received of this aged impostor, who, no doubt, has sunk into the contempt and oblivion he merited by his disgraceful conduct. No one, singular to say, seemed to know who he was, or what were his occupations previous to his making this raid upon the poor Pitcairn Islanders.

Immediately on his removal, the islanders sent to Mr. Nobbs and his companions in exile to return, and also offered to pay all the expenses of their

voyage from the Gambier Islands. On their arrival at Pitcairn their reception was so enthusiastic and affectionate that it proved it was not by the wish of the community generally that the three families had been dismissed. The following document, which had been written some years previously, was then forwarded to the Admiralty, and testifies to the good feeling which had existed between Mr. Nobbs and his flock until the arrival of Hill.

66

"Pitcairn Island, December, 1832.

We, the undersigned heads of families at Pitcairn's Island, do hereby certify that Mr. George Nobbs has conducted himself to our satisfaction ever since he has been on this island; also, we have no fault to find with his manner of keeping school for the space of four years; and the reason why Mr. Nobbs is dismissed from teaching and school-keeping is in consequence of a disagreement between Mr. Nobbs and Mr. Joshua Hill, who has lately come to reside on this island among us."

CHAPTER IV.

SHIPS OF WAR VISIT PITCAIRN - LETTER OF CAPTAIN WOOD R.N. - ARRIVAL OF BARON THIERRY AND OTHERS - ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF PITCAIRN ISLAND.

DURING the next few years Pitcairn Island was visited by a ship of war, by a missionary vessel, having on on board the Rev. Mr. Heath of London, and several traders and American whalers in want of water and vegetables. Many of these had previously touched at the island for the same purpose, and so strictly honest were the islanders in their dealings, that their word was a sufficient guarantee for the correctness of the settled amount of supplies bartered, such as soap, oil, and other commodities. Even in times of privation and scarcity after a bad season, there was no diminution in amount or increased payment demanded by the islanders for the supplies sent to the ships. The respect which these rough merchantmen and whalers felt for the Pitcairners was such that one sailor declared, "That if any insult were to be offered to any of them, and especially to the female part of the community, a man would not be long alive after he came on board.”

H.M.'s ship' Curaçoa,' Captain Jenkin Jones, arrived most opportunely in August, 1841, when influenza prevailed among the inhabitants of so severe a character as almost to decimate their numbers. Their stock of medicine was expended, and Mr. Nobbs' efforts to arrest

the course of the malady seemed unavailing. The surgeon of the ship was sent on shore immediately with all necessary supplies and remedies for the sick, and in the course of a few days many of the sufferers were pronounced convalescent.

Captain Jones having ascertained the spot where the 'Bounty' had been sunk, succeeded, with some difficulty, in raising the charred hull, and found that such had been the solidity of her timbers, that her "heart of oak" had survived the power of fire and water, and the effects of submersion for half a century.

Various ornamental articles were manufactured out of the remains of the old ship, which the islanders sent as presents to several of their friends in England; and Isabella Christian, widow of the mutineer, although at a very advanced age, confided to the care of Captain Jones several yards of beautifully manufactured tappa cloth as a present to "Peter's wife." She had a perfect recollection of Peter Heywood, the young midshipman, and also of Captain Cook when he visited Tahiti. She died a month after the 'Curaçoa' left the island in August, 1841.

In the course of the year 1845, fever again broke out among the islanders, and, at the same time, consumption and rheumatism were rife among them. The recurrence of these maladies simultaneously, was traced to circumstances which invariably produced the same results; a long drought, succeeded by two or three weeks of rain, and the wind prevailing from the N.W.

April 16th, 1845, is marked in the island register by

1 The widow of Captain Peter Heywood, R.N.

Р

the occurrence of a fearful hurricane, which did infinite damage to both trees and plantations, and is thus described by an eye-witness :-"For several days past the weather has been cloudy, with occasional showers. with the wind s.s.w., it began to rain in good earnest. As the sun declined the wind increased. At sunset it blew a gale; all hands employed in securing the roofs of their houses, and making all snug before dark. A dirty night was anticipated, and all our fears were realised. At 10 P.M. the wind shifted four or five points to the westward, and the sheet-lightning began to break the monotony of the lucid atmosphere. By midnight a perfect typhoon raged above and around us; the whole course of the heavens was in a continual blaze, and the thunder, although not so very loud, with the exception of one burst, was incessant. From the position of the wind, which veered and hauled four or five points, the houses were a good deal sheltered from its violence, or they most assuredly would have been prostrated; therefore the most of us, who passed a sleepless night, were, in mercy, permitted to remain quiet in our houses. Very frequently during the night loud crashes were heard, which we supposed were the trees in the higher parts of the island yielding to the fury of the storm. The noise did not proceed from the falling and crashing of trees, but from a cause of which at the time we were happily ignorant. At daylight a man, much alarmed, came to my house, saying a part of the island had given way and was falling into the sea. From the door of my house I observed imperfectly a spot from which a portion of earth had been detached,